Morning in Atlantica
by Rosepixie
Summary: A series of very short stories about characters from Disney's The Little Mermaid in the morning (not all are in Atlantica). There is very little plot, but it is safe to assume that the stories all take place on the same morning, so small connections may become evident. I have no current plans to expand any of these, but may continue to add more of them over time.
1. Ariel

The bed was big and soft. The halo of pillows around her head was cozy. Ariel sleepily snuggled deeper into the warm nest of bedding, enjoying the safe softness.

And then she sat up in a moment of panic, her hand flying to her throat.

"Please still work," she said aloud to the empty room. Her voice was a little scratchy from sleep, but it was still there. A huge smile spread over her face and she bounced out of bed. Her legs were still there too! It hadn't been a dream! Ursula was gone, her father had given her legs, and she was getting married to her true love in three days! What a wonderful world it was!

Ariel danced around the room in her ruffled human nightgown singing nonsense syllables happily. Carlotta bustled into the room carrying a breakfast tray, only to have the girl almost knock her over as she spun around the room with an imaginary partner.

"I'm sorry!" Ariel exclaimed with a happy giggle as she helped the housekeeper steady the tray.

"It's fine, dear," Carlotta reassured her with a broad smile. "Come now, you must eat before your busy day starts! You have a wedding to plan!"

"Oh, I'm so happy!" Ariel sang, taking up her waltz again.

With an amused smile, Carlotta caught the princess mid-spin and guided her to the table to eat her breakfast.

"Now," the housekeeper began, joining Ariel in a seat at the table. "Let's go over some of the basics again. This is a fork …"


	2. Triton

King Triton flipped his fin and pushed himself over to the archway that afforded him the best view of Atlantica. The kingdom itself was far too vast for him to be able to see more than a tiny fraction of it, but the capitol mercity spread out below his tower.

Normally, the view was calming, but this morning the city was failing to have its usual tranquil effect on him. He had barely slept all night and had finally given up as morning approached.

Triton's mind kept wandering back to his youngest daughter. He had granted her wish and given her legs and he didn't regret that decision. The look in her eyes and the actions she took to protect her human prince had convinced him that to deny her would be unspeakably cruel. Still, it was proving more difficult than he had expected to reconcile her conviction that she would be safe living among humans with the decades of experience that had taught him that humans are dangerous and to be avoided.

He sighed and stroked his beard absently. She was a grown merwoman and he wanted to respect her choices. He _would_ respect her choices. But she was also his baby girl and he couldn't simply stop worrying about her and wanting to protect her. The human knew what she was, what her past was, and loved her anyway. He had fought the sea witch to help keep her safe. Triton had to believe that he would care for and protect Ariel.

The thoughts just kept rolling around and around in his head. Continuing to follow this circular trail of thoughts wouldn't help. It didn't make it any easier.

Triton kicked his fin resolutely and set off to get some work done. It was early, but he was king. The palace would wake if he wanted it to. As he swam towards his throne room, Triton passed a few of his attendants and sent them off to find Sebastian the crab and to leave word with his six older daughters to come and see him when they awoke.

The crab scuttled up to him barely moments after Triton took his seat on the throne. Sometimes he wondered if Sebastian simply lurked in the shadows around him, waiting to be needed.

"Sebastian," he began in a serious tone, "we must prepare for my youngest daughter's wedding. Let us begin with the guest list."

"Yes, Your Majesty."


	3. Eric

Eric lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Forty-eight hours ago he had been laying in this same place at this same time wondering why he had agreed to marry a raven-haired stranger he had just met on the beach. He remembered feeling confused about it. He remembered wondering why he was marrying her. He remembered thinking that she was a stranger and feeling panicked. And he remembered deciding to tell Grimsby about his fear, to get the support and advice that his closest adviser could offer. As soon as he tried to open his mouth to share his concerns with Grimsby, however, he had been unable to remember what he was going to say. He remembered feeling confused, but also not concerned about that confusion. The day proceeded as if he'd never been concerned at all.

Looking back on it made him very uncomfortable. How had he not realized something was wrong? And how could he be sure it wasn't happening again?

His feelings about Ariel were very different from his feelings for Vanessa. He'd known Ariel before he loved her (not for long, granted, but it still wasn't the instant adoration that he had felt for Vanessa). He'd seen Ariel making crazy mistakes, like combing her hair with a fork at the dinner table, and marveling at the world around her as a child would. He had thought that he was falling in love with her when he took her to town and on the boat ride, but then he had all but forgotten about her when Vanessa arrived. And then everything had fallen apart and he had discovered that she was a mermaid.

He sat up and leaned on one knee as he thought about how odd that was. His bride was a _mermaid_. It seemed like that should bother him, but somehow it didn't. She was clever and funny and curious and compassionate. She was everything he had ever thought he might want and so many things he'd never known he wanted. She had risked her life for him. Twice! And he had risked his for her without a second thought.

Yes, Eric was sure that it was real this time, fish tail or no. It was much too weird and much too wonderful to be anything but unadorned reality.

A smile spread across Eric's face. He was in love with the most amazing and unique woman he had ever met. And was tired of second-guessing the most real feelings he could ever remember having.

Eric bounded out of bed to get ready for the day. A day he could spend with the love of his life. A day where they would plan their wedding. It was marvelous!


	4. Grimsby

Grimsby washed his face and hands in the porcelain wash bowl that the former king had given him several years back to thank him for his service. Once he was satisfied with his washing, Grimsby carefully dressed in his perfectly pressed suit. A castle steward represented the castle and its staff, so it was imperative that he never be seen looking anything less than sharp and perfectly put-together. Sometimes he wished the Prince thought the same way.

Taking extra care to straighten the artfully tied cravat at his throat, he put the finishing touches on his toilette in front of his looking glass. It was going to be a busy day and he wished to look extra well for it.

Grimsby squared his shoulders and left his room. He found Carlotta, the housekeeper, laying out breakfast for them in his office. They had not discussed this the night before, but it was customary for them to plan especially busy days together over breakfast like this. With a smile, the steward took his usual seat and smoothed his napkin across his lap.

"Good morning, Carlotta," he greeted her.

"Good morning, Mr. Grimsby," she replied with a smile as she sat down at the table. "It seems we have our work cut out for us. I don't suppose that you were able to convince the prince to let us reuse some of the preparations from the last wedding?"

"Unfortunately not," he replied with a wry smile. "He made it very clear that he wants nothing that might remind him or his bride of Miss Vanessa (or whatever her name really was). The only resource that we are permitted to use again is the ship and its crew, provided the decor is completely changed."

"I can understand his feelings," Carlotta conceded as she spread jam onto a piece of toast. "Planning a second wedding from scratch less than a week after the first one will be quite a challenge, though. And I don't expect our young bride will be much help, given her background!"

"I expect not," Grimsby replied with a smile. "I imagine weddings where she comes from are somewhat different."

"I will work with her this morning on … well, I suppose we'll start with cutlery. And the dressmaker will be here at 10:30 for her fitting. I do wish that she had a lady's maid!"

"She likely did have one, but that won't help us now."

"Well, she needs one. I can't be waiting on her forever. I have too much to do."

"If you know of anyone who could do it temporarily it might be worth reassigning them. We can do a proper search when we have time, after the wedding."

"Perhaps I can find someone, although it has been a precious long time since this castle had a lady in residence. We should get down to the plans for this wedding now, though."

"Of course. Well, we'll need to get a shopping list from Louis before the market opens this morning …"


End file.
